Process for post forming plywood



April 13, 1954 D. S. PHILLIPS PROCESS FOR PosT FORMING mzwoon Filed Jan. 18, 1951 ML w llll INVENTOR "Hinwil atented Apr. 13, 1954 UNITED PROCESS Het freer FORMING retiree Dorothea S. Phillips, Meredith, N.- Ii assienor t ameriten yaxgeieid Gemeen New erli. N. Y., a corporation of Maine` Application January 18, 19551, Serial No. 206,568

i i Claires.- 1 This invention relates to a process :for postforming plywood articles and, more particularly, this invention relates to a .process :for post-forming plywood articles by means oi a .particular adhesive applied to the surfaces of wood `,ply cores and combining said cores with face veneers into a substantially nat assembly and uni-ting said assembly into a` flat unitary structure vby the application of pressure .at room temperature thereafter permanently .deforzning said -latstructure by the application oi' heat and pressure thereto between the faces oi a mold. Stilliurther, this invention relates to a process for postforming plywood articles which have a water resistant adhesive bonding the plies vinto `a `unitary structure. 1'

One of the objects of the l'pi-. esent invention is to prepare plywood articles having contoured sur-V faces according to the process oi `.the present invention. A further object ci the present invention is to produce post-formed plywood articles, the bonds of which have substantially increased resistance to water. A still further object of the present invention is to prepare a plywood article having a nat unitary structure which can -be i surface-finished and lthen subsequently deformed by the application of heat andvpressur'e toa permanently shaped article which has no intern-a1 strains tending to return `the article to lits original flat condition. A still fur-ther object ofthe present invention is Ato Aproduce l,plywood articies comprising a plurality of Ywoodiplies thesurlfaces o1 which are coated with an aclhesifvre material comprising about 5-"l5% by weight of iemulsied polyvinyl acetate and about c-95% by weight of a water dispersible, thermosetting aminoplast resin such as melamine-formaldehyderesin and urea-formaldehyde resin and combiningsaid plies into a substantially `nat assembly and uniting said assembiy into a flat, unitary structure by `the application of `pressure at room temperature, i. e., 25o C. thereafter deforming said .hat structure bythe application oi" heat and Apressure there,- to between the faces `of a `mold.

In the manufacture of plywood articles, it :is often desired to produce 4for.certain=usesplywcod articles which have Vcontoured surfaces.' 4The manner oiproducing such 4contoured sur-faced plywood articles has presented a serious problem to the industry engaging 'manufacture Conventional adhesives couldpe used which would enable one .to bond the W990i .elles :t tether ,sad deform .to the .desired shane .a .-.eeele .bimby use ef e thermesettins,.adhesitesorileeer tion. The shortcoming to such an approach resides primarily inthe fact that the nishing of the .surface .of such a deformed 'plywood `article mustbe accomplished after the deformation has been completed and, as a consequence, the iiIlSl-l' ing of .the surface has to Ibe conlpleted manually. If `one were able to use an adhesive mierial which `would give suiiicient cold set bond .to the plies `so as to enable one to Work .0n the it bonded assembly and give it a smooth surface iinish such as `by planing or sanding, .one .could then deiorm the unitary structure by the applica@ tion of heat and pressure thereby eliminating the necessity ,of manual iinishing of the rlnalpermanently deformed product. The applicant has discovered that by using a particular adhesive composition .comprising`5.%75 by weight of polyvinyl acetate and 25,-70 by weight of a water dispersible, thermosetti-ng aminoplast resin, such as melaminefiormaldehyde resin or .urear formaldehyde resin or a melamine-urea-iormalf dehyde resin or mixture of these resins, one develops sufcient tack and hond due .to ,the presence of the .polyvinyl acetate that a fiat unitary structure can be .produced in which the several plies `remain united ,during `the subsequent machining of `the plywood object. The object may @be-cutto a .particular configuration or de: sired design, the surface may be Asarrided or ren-` dered smooth by any desired method and upon completion of the `surfacing .and other treatin.ent ofthe object, .the .fiat .unitary ,structure ,may be deformed .to Athe desired shape simply by applying heat and pressure `.to the flat .unitary struc: ture `between .the V:races Aof a mold. The ypolyvinyl acetate present .-in ,the adhesive composition is thermoplastic .and upontheapplicationof :heat becomes .softened and `permits the slippagefof the Various Acomponents ,of the structure rinto their molded positions. 'This ,slippage is further facilitated by Ythe transitionof the thermosetting portion of the resin `through its fiuid .stage of cure. These `factors .enable one .to deiorm the .plywood structure .to the `desired shape, whereupon the thermosetting resin ,component of the adhesiye upon continued .application .of heat, :becomes thermoset in Lits new contours l and ,displays no evidence of internal .strain .or lplastic memQIy. The :polyvinylacetate .component ,of the adhesive material being thermoplastic .will similarly assulrne `the contours of its new surroundingsatter t h e application of heat and pressure when the tendrait is permitted to rete-rn to room temperature .ie te@ tiene" "De if itieitefy einen@ .iep .flat y .eee per see .i110

heat whateverwhilefapplyiig the pressure to tially nat.

and pressure should be applied to the structure This so as to deform it into the desired shape.

heating results in a cure ofthe ther-mosetting resinous component of the adhesive material The prior art discloses a plurality of ways in` which plywood may be manufactured. The generally accepted method for the manufacture of three ply plywood is to apply the adhesive material to both sides of the center piece of core, then to apply the face veneers upon thewet cores and the usual practice has been, in many of the mills, to subject the adhesive spreadpanels to pressure, suchY as in a hydraulic press, for four to twenty four hours. Some manufacturers, using a cold set adhesive, apply no heat, merely pressure. Others use a cold press for several hours, followed by a hot press. rIlhis latter embodiment is used in those instances in which the adhesive .used has a tendency-to force its way through the face veneers and stain the faces of the panels during the hot press step. The actual coating of the plies with the adhesive can be accomplished in a plurality of ways, for instance one could apply the adhesive to both sides of the core ply in three ply plywood and combine with the uncoated, face veneers, thereby coating the face veneers or one could kcoat the inner surface of the face veneers and combine with the uncoated core ply, thereby coating the core ply. Still further, one could coat at least one surface of each of the plies and combine the plies with the coated surfaces of the face veneers directed toward the center of the plywood assembly. These and other obvious methods of approach are well known by those skilled in the art and further delineation is deemed unnecessary. It should be remembered, however, that all of these modifications may be used without departing from the spirit and essence of the present invention.

VThe accompanying drawing is illustrative of the concept of the present invention in which Figure 1 illustrates a core, on each side of which there is a layer of adhesive material, and finally a layer of face veneer on each side of the adhesifve layer. In Figure 2, this assembly of plies (core plies and face veneer plies) are combined into a unitary structure by the application of pressure at room temperature between the faces, a and b, of a dat press to form the unitary structure as illustrated in Fig. 3. Fig. 4 illustrates as the sole resinous component with the polyvinyl acetate, excellent bonds are developed but these bonds do not have the water resistance which are realized when melamine is used either exclusively or in combination with the urea resins. When the urea and melamine resins are used in combination with one another, the urea resin should be present in an amount not greater than 75% by weight of the total weight of the resinous component if water resistant bonds are desired. -I-fy the melamine-urea-formaldehyde resin is used, the urea component should not constitute more Vthan r15% of the total number of Imols of the melamine and urea present in the resin. In preparing the urea-formaldehyde resins, any mol ratio may be used such as between 1:1 and 1:4, urea to formaldehyde, respectively. It is, however, desired to use mol ratios 4of 1:1.3 tol 1:3,

l respectively, with optimum results being accomresinous component at room temperature and'it the formation of the Vcontoured plywood article should be clear from the above discussion that it is desired that the cure of the adhesive material be accomplished only upon the application of heat and pressure. It is, then, desirable to control the pI-I of the resinous composition within the range of about 5-11 and preferably within the range of 7 to 9.

If the resinous composition is to be used immediately upon preparation, the aqueous dispersion of the aminoplast resin can be blended with the pre-emulsiiied polyvinyl acetate in a dry state so that the latter becomes dispersed in the former. If an aqueous emulsion of the polyvinyl acetate is used, it can be dispersed in the aqueous dispersion of the resin or the dry aminoplast resin can be incorporated in the aqueous emulsion of the polyvinyl acetate. In the event that the resinous material is prepared far in advance of use, either or both of the components may be dried separately or in combination by any conventional method such as spray drying, tray drying, kettle drying and the like. The components may be dried together or separately or the resinous component can be dried and redispersed in the aqueous emulsion of the polyvinyl acetate or the pre-emulsied polyvinyl acetate in the dry state can be redispersed in the aqueous dispersion of the resin. Although it has been indicated hereinabove that one may use between 5 and 75% by weight of the polyvinyl acetate, it is actually preferred that the polyvinyl acetate be present in an amount not greater than about 25%, by weight, for optimum results.

The following examples are set forth for the purpose of illustrating the processes for the preparation of the aminoplast resins per se. These examples are set forth solely for the purpose of illustration and should not be interpreted as limitations on the case except as indicated by the appended claims. All parts are parts by weight.

Urea-formaldehyde resin 174 parts of a 37% aqueous formaldehyde solution and- 62.2 parts of urea are charged into a suitable reaction kettle and the pH of the mixture is adjusted by the use of 10 N sodium hy- Melamine-fomadehyde resins 126 parts of melamine 'and 162 parts of 421.37% aqueous formaldehyde solution are introduced into a suitable reaction chamber equipped with thermometer, stirrer and reflux condenser. The pH of the mixture is adjusted to about 6.5-7 and the mixture is heated to 85 C. in 30-40 minutes at which point the pH will have risen to about 8. The batch is then cooled to about 70 C. and held at that temperature for about 90-120 minutes. The pH is then adjusted to about 9.

Melamine-formaldehyde, urea-formaldehyde resin Equal parts of the resins prepared according to each of the preceding examples are stirred together into a syrupy mixture until a smooth blend is obtained. The mixture may be used directly in combination with the polyvinyl acetate or it may be spray dried for storage.

M elamine-urea-formaldehyde resin 324 parts of a 37% aqueous formaldehyde solution are introduced into a suitable reaction chamber equipped with thermometer, stirrer, and

reflux condenser and the pH is adjusted to about i,

5. 120 parts of urea are added and the mixture is heated to reflux in 20 minutes. The pI-I should be about or adjusted to that point if necessary. The mixture is then heated at reflux for about 2 hours, then cooled to 85 C. and the pH adjusted to about 7.5. 126 parts of melamine are then added and the temperature is maintained at about 85 C. for 90-120 minutes. The reaction mixture is then cooled and the pH is adjusted to about 9. The resultant resinous syrup may be used directly with the polyvinyl acetate emulsion or it may be spray dried for later use.

Any polyvinyl acetate aqueous emulsion or pre-emulsied polyvinyl acetate in the dry state may be used in the preparation of the composition of the present invention. There are a number of methods of preparing these polymers, all of which are well known in the art and it is immaterial which method is selected for the preparation of the polyvinyl acetate. Representative of the processes are those set forth in U. S. Patents 2,388,600, 2,388,602, and 2,398,344.

I claim:

l. A process for post-forming plywood articles comprising coating a plurality of wood plies with an adhesive material comprising an aqueous dispersion of (a) about 5%-25% by weight of emulsied polyvinyl acetate and (b) about 'l5-95% by weight of a water dispersible thermosetting aminoplast resin selected from the group consisting of melamine-formaldehyde resin and urea-formaldehyde resin, combining said plies into a substantially iiat assembly, uniting and cold curing said assembly into a fiat, unitary structure by the application of pressure at a temperature betweenlahout 25 Gr.50" C., surface finishing said fiat structure and thereafter de- -forming said flat structure :by the application oi heat and lpressure thereto between the faces of a mold.

y2. `A process` :for post-forming water Vresistant plywood articles comprising coating a plurality `.of wood plies with ,an adhesive material comprising an aqueous `.dispersion oi la) about 5-25% by weightof .emnlsied polyvinyl acetate and (b) about 'T5-.9.5% by weight of a water .dispersible `thermusetting .melamine-formaldehyde resin, combining said plies into a substantially fiat assembly, uniting and cold curing said assembly into a fiat, unitary structure by the application of pressure at a temperature between about 25 C.50 C., surface nishing said flat structure and thereafter deforming said flat structure by the application of heat and pressure thereto between the faces of a mold.

3. A process for post-forming water resistant plywood articles comprising coating a plurality of wood plies with an adhesive material comprising an aqueous dispersion of (a) about 5-25% by weight of emulsified polyvinyl acetate and (b) 'l5-95% by weight of a water dispersible mixture of a thermosetting melamine-formaldehyde resin and a thermosetting urea-formaldehyde resin wherein the urea-formaldehyde constitutes less than '15% of the total resin weight, combining said plies into a substantially flat assembly, uniting and cold curing said assembly into a nat, unitary structure by the application of pressure at a temperature between about 25 C.-50 C., surface iinishing said flat structure and thereafter deforming said flat structure by the application of heat and pressure thereto between the faces of a mold.

4. A process for post-forming water resistant plywood articles comprising coating a plurality of wood plies with an adhesive material comprising an aqueous dispersion of (a) about 5-25% by weight of emulsied polyvinyl acetate and (b) about 'T5-95% by weight of a water dispersible melamine-urea-formaldehyde resin wherein the urea constitutes less than 75% by weight of the total weight of urea and melamine in the resin, uniting and cold curing said assembly into a flat, unitary structure by the application of pressure at a temperature between about 25 C.50 C., surface finishing said flat structure and thereafter deforming said fiat structure by the application of heat and pressure thereto between the faces of a mold.

5. A process for post-forming water resistant plywood articles comprising coating a plurality of wood plies with an adhesive material comprising an aqueous dispersion of (a) about 525% by weight of emulsified polyvinyl acetate and (b) about 75-95% by weight of a water dispersible mixture of a thermosetting melamineformaldehyde resin and a thermosetting ureaformaldehyde resin wherein the urea-formaldehyde resin constitutes between Z55-50% of the total resin weight, combining said plies into a substantially flat assembly uniting and cold curing said assembly into a flat, unitary structure by the application of pressure at a temperature between about 25 C.50 C., surface finishing said flat structure, and thereafter deforming said at structure by the application of heat and pressure thereto between the faces of a mold.

6. A process for post-forming water resistant plywood articles comprising coating a plurality of wood plies with an adhesive material comprising an aqueous dispersion of (a) about 5-25% by weight of emulsied polyvinyl acetate and (b) about 75-95% by weight of a water dispersible melamine-urea-formaldehyde resin wherein the urea constitutes between 25 and 50% of the total mols of urea and melamine in the resin, uniting and cold curing said assembly into a at, unitary structure by the application of pressure at a temperature between about 25 C.50 C., surface nishing said iiat structure and thereafter deforming said flat structure by the application of heat and pressure thereto between the faces of a mold.

References Cited in the file of this patent 'Y UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Name Date Wittkowsky Sept. 18, 1900 Davidson Jan. 26, 1915 lBieber Sept. 20, 1927 Weidner et al. June 28, 1949 Alderson Dec. 5, 1950 Nagel et al. Dec. 19, 1950 Wohnsiedler et al. Feb. 5, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain July 5, 1938 France June 26, 1944 

1. A PROCESS FOR POST-FORMING PLYWOOD ARTICLES COMPRISING COATING A PLURALITY OF WOOD PLIES WITH AN ADHESIVE MATERIAL COMPRISING AN AQUEOUS DISPERSION OF (A) ABOUT 5%-25% BY WEIGHT OF EMULSIFIED POLYVINYL ACETATE AND (B) ABOUT 75-95% BY WEIGHT OF A WATER DISPERSIBLE THEREMOSETTING AMINOPLAST RESIN SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF MELAMINE-FORMALDEHYDE RESIN AND UREA-FORMALDEHYDE RESIN, COMBINING SAID PLIES INTO A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT ASSEMBLY, UNITING AND COLD CURING SAID ASSEMBLY INT A FLAT, UNITARY STRUCTURE BY THE APPLICATION OF PRESSURE AT A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN ABOUT 25* C.-50* C., SURFACE FINISHING SAID FLAT STRUCTURE BY THE APPLICATION OF FORMING SAID FLAT STRUCTURE BY THE APPLICATION OF HEAT AND PRESSURE THERETO BETWEEN THE FACES OF A MOLD. 